Friday, February 5, 2010

yup, we're having a baby!

So the news is out - we are expecting baby Naugler #2! This baby is already holding a huge place in our hearts. I thought I was having a miscarriage at one point and so as you can imagine, we were extremely anxious and relieved after having an early ultrasound, confirming that our babe is growing and healthy so far! It is amazing and overwhelming all at once. My due "month" is late August and so I have just about reached my 12 week mark.

Many thoughts are constantly swirling in my head, regarding this baby's birth and entrance into our family. I am committed to nursing Charlotte for as long as she wants to, and so tandem nursing is probably in our future! I am really excited about this, and have purchased the book "Adventures in Tandem Nursing" by Hilary Flower. It is the only book that I could find so far exclusively on the subject. I will write more on this as I finish the book and reflect on the possibilities of tandem nursing in our family. I was really excited to meet a real-life woman (as opposed to reading about them on the internet!) who nursed two of her babes at the same time. I look forward to getting lots of tips and encouragement from her :)

One big obstacle that I can't stop thinking about is the birth of this baby. I was in labour with Charlotte for a long time and I'm not sure how Charlotte (who might still be nursing) will handle this. Having a home birth with a midwife is not an option in New Brunswick. (Unless you pay for a midwife to come from another province or from the States.) At one point, there were some licensed midwives working in NB and you could pay them out of pocket to birth your babies. As legislation has been pushed back and pushed back and nothing has been put in place, most (or maybe all) of these trained midwives have had to leave the province in order to find work elsewhere. For this reason, I hope to become involved in Birth Matters which is a non-profit organization working to have midwives working under our medical system. I think that having a midwife would allow me to have a lot more flexiblity in the birthing of this baby and allowing Charlotte to not be separated from us for a long period of time. I still need to look into the policies of our hospital regarding toddlers visiting labour and delivery and also visiting and staying in the maternity ward. My inclination (after trying to be a breastfeeding mom while going through gall bladder surgery and complications when Charlotte was a week and a half) is that it will NOT be easy, and perhaps, impossible for Charlotte to stay at the hospital with us, just because she is breastfeeding.

Anyway, I need to invest a lot more time in research about this whole process. Perhaps Charlotte will self-wean before the time comes. Or perhaps she will nurse a lot less. But I need to be prepared as she might still be nursing quite a bit. It is a bit nerve wracking for me, as I don't have many options, and it costs a lot of money to bring a midwife from Maine or Ontario.

For now, I am enjoying every special nursing time with Charlotte. She is becoming quite a chatterbox and I love spending my days with her.

On another note, I am also thoroughly enjoying the book "Creative Family" by Amanda Soule. I just started it today, and I am being challenged to be creative in my own life. I just finished the section on Graditude and oh my, I have not been very outwardly grateful in my everyday life. There have been a lot of stressful things going on with the business which affects our future and some pretty huge decisions. I have been affected by this in my attitude and have been stressed (as has Tim). I hope to change the stress in the air tonight as we have dinner with my sis and her husband and relax and hang out together. I want to start saying the things that I am grateful for out loud! And encouraging genuine gratitude without forcing Charlotte to say thank you all the time. Have a wonderful, gratitude filled weekend!

It seems so wrong that we still dont have practising midwives in NB. I know a girl who had her last son at home without one anyway, she was determined to have her baby at home i guess. I can put you in contact with her if that interest you? Will you have the same doula?

What are you doing for creativity? It would be nice to have a girls craft night sometime?!

Thanks Tyler and Melinda! And thanks for all of your prayers... we need them!

Shanie - Tim and I don't feel comfortable having an unassisted home birth. Having a home birth with a professional, licensed midwife who attends many births a year is another story though! But thanks for the offer! I would LOVE to have the same doula... but she is having a baby around the time that we are!! We are thrilled for her, and the search will begin soon for another doula.

As far as creativity goes... I don't have any plans yet! I need to brainstorm and figure out what I want to pursue. I have the idea of learning how to sew percolating in the back of my brain, but I'm not sure how feasible that is with the lack of space (and no large table) in our house. A girls craft night would be wonderful. Let me know what ideas you have!!

I was just checking out FredKid and found your blog...congrats! I'm a local doula, and while I haven't tandem nursed, each of my older kids nursed until they were almost three. Right now I'm enjoying nursing 6 month old Zoey...they grow so fast!

I've had three very different births: one at the DECH, one homebirth with a midwife in attendance, and our latest was a UC last August. No matter which decisions you make, they all take a lot of time, heart, and energy...best wishes as you navigate this.

A group of natural-minded mamas (myself included!) are starting a monthly get-together called "Birth Talk Fredericton". We're having our first meeting on March 9, location to be decided. I will try to remember to come back and post the details, or you can email me at gow.amy@hotmail.com.